


thank you

by miraisen



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-21 01:48:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6033583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraisen/pseuds/miraisen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Garnet helps Peridot in matters of the heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	thank you

**Author's Note:**

> this is my very first fanfic, special thanks to @uproaring for editing!!  
> i hope you guys like it!

The sun had set about three hours ago at the barn, and Steven was fast asleep in his new bed- the old one, which Steven had improvised by simply shoving a mattress into the back of a truck, had been wrecked, along with one of the barn’s walls (not that they’d leave it unattended in such an uncaring manner, they made a makeshift wall of their own; various layers of black tarp adhered to the edges of the wall that were still there by a piece of human technology known to save a life in the biggest of emergencies- high quality duct tape) by Peridot a few days ago in her rampage to contact Yellow Diamond, and had since been replaced by an air mattress Greg had loaned to the gems.  
Speaking of which, the green gem was currently lost in thought, not even in a comfortable position, merely standing in a way that seemed plain awkward to any viewer. Lucky for her, only a certain fusion with whom she had fairly recently acquired a friendship of sorts was around to see Peridot’s stiff, odd form.

Garnet was sitting on a hay bale across from her in a lax way, with her legs outstretched and hands behind her hair. Originally, she was merely stargazing, but the way Peridot had been standing up in that stiff, strange way, seemingly immobilized by her own musings and having to suppress flustered smiles every now and then, incited her to whistle at her in hopes of bringing her back to reality. And so she did.

Noticing the high-pitched sound, Peridot squeaked and shook slightly in alarmed surprise and her sight shot up, finding Garnet. “Wha… What was that for!?” she asked, looking slightly aggravated.

“You looked like you were beating the same bush over and over inside that head of yours, so I decided to make things easier for you and just speed up the process of you asking for my help,” the relaxed gem said nonchalantly. Each bit of that sentence seemed to have hit Peridot’s nerves, all in different ways most people wouldn’t have bothered even vaguely describing, but she didn’t consider herself a dedicated, intelligent gem for nothing.

“…First of all, I didn’t ‘look’ like anything- I was posing what you all seem to call, and I _quote_ , ‘the poker face’,” she started, making Garnet’s lips curve slightly in amusement, to which she responded with a scowl.

“Secondly, I wasn’t picturing myself battling a still organic lifeform in my head; I was repeatedly tackling an issue I’m currently holding in consideration. Thirdly, how dare you assume you are making things ‘easier’ for me by startling me like that out of nowhere! And lastly, I was not going to ask for your help!” she exclaimed, flustered.

By the end of her monologue Garnet had that smug grin she always had on her face whenever she could just _tell_ that there was no way she had been wrong in her assessment.

Peridot stood still, standing in what she considered was a manner that showcased her assertiveness, but her facial features gave away her reluctance to admit the fusion was right out loud.

“Okay,” Garnet eventually said, “if you weren’t going to ask for my help, then let me offer it to you.” Peridot abandoned her annoyed frown and replaced it with a surprised look in her eyes, mouth slightly agape.

“You said you’ve been thinking about something over and over, and by the way you looked while standing over there for that long while, it seems to be troubling you,” she said, still smiling at the smaller gem. “Let’s talk about it.”

Peridot rapidly blinked twice, at a loss of how to respond. Part of her wanted to keep denying the existence of such an issue, while another contemplated Garnet’s offer. It would be beneficial, no doubt; Garnet definitely had experience with these subjects, and it seemed pointless to keep pretending she didn’t need counseling for the sake of her pride when she had already been seen through.

“…Alright,” she accepted. Garnet motioned for her to come sit by her in the hay bale, like she once had the night Peridot began to understand the fusion.

As she sat down, Garnet shifted slightly, crossing her legs and turning to look at her smaller friend’s face, and waited for her to start in silence. They did this more often than Peridot would readily admit to anyone without getting embarrassed, so she took her cue to begin speaking. “ _Ahem_. So, I wanted to ask you a few questions about the gems that compose you.”

“Go on, then.”

She took a moment to think about the things she’d say. “Specifically, I’m curious about their relationship. Obviously I know they’re the best, most optimal team,” she said, sharing a brief grin with Garnet, “but what I want to know is… how did that happen, exactly? You told me you’re essentially a relationship. How did you come to be?”

“I thought I told you that story a few days ago,” Garnet stated, slightly puzzled.

The technician sighed. “I know you did! That’s not what I mean, I’m not talking about how they met, it’s… how did they make each other feel? Not necessarily when they fused, just… you know, when they looked at each other or something!”

Garnet must have been feeling particularly playful that night, because though she had understood what she meant, she felt like messing around with Peridot for a little while longer. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said, holding back a smirk effortlessly.

The smallest of the two seemed shocked and appalled at the fusion’s attitude, and even offended, as if she could subconsciously tell she was being messed with.

“What?! Oh come on! Do I need to be more specific? How specific can I get?! It’s like, when you’re just… around each other, and you feel… a thing? Like something stirring inside of you in an almost overwhelming way? And you feel like you’re dying or something but in a good way because you feel excited which is stupid because you’re _dying_ and- wait,” she stopped, having caught wind of Garnet’s giant grin plastered in her face after having gotten Peridot to spill the metaphorical beans, and became outraged. “You did this on purpose! You just wanted to see me openly struggle!”

She giggled shortly, amused at Peridot’s outburst, and once she stopped, she suddenly seemed more serious. “Maybe I did, but I promise you it wasn’t just to mess with you. I wanted to hear you try and word how you feel by yourself, without me giving you possible choices. If you already know the answer, questions only bring along doubts and confusion,” she said.

Peridot pondered her words for a moment, and seemed to silently agree. It did make sense when she put it like that.

“So, if you’re asking for my relationship specifically, that must mean there’s someone who makes you feel that way.”

Peridot froze in place, her cheeks feeling like they were on fire. She didn’t know how to respond, so she went for her to-go alternative when rational, sincere answers failed her: frantic denial.

“What?! How can you be so sure? You didn’t even ask, ‘ _oh, Peridot, is there anyone you’re interested iiiin?_ ’ and even if you had, the answer would be no! But I can’t even be given that luxury, because everything is just so crystal clear to you apparently! But guess what?! You’re not on to anything! I’m absolutely, utterly unpredictable! My behavior shall not be read so easily by _anyone_!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.

Garnet just stared at her in silence, the same way she generally did whenever Peridot threw a tantrum. It usually made Peridot calm down after 10 seconds or so, after realizing her outburst had been pointless.

Once she had cooled down, she decided to try open vagueness. “…okay, maybe there _is_ someone I feel a certain…attraction for. But I don’t know if she feels the same and I don’t know if I could ever be in a relationship with her because what if I’m not cut out for it and _what if she doesn’t even like me oh my stars what if she hates me and I’ve been fooling myself all along it’d make sense because I’m not good enough this was a mistake please forget I said anything-_ ”

Garnet placed her hand on Peridot’s shoulder, signaling her to stop and calm down. When the technician spoke of her true emotions and longings she typically ended up riddled in her fears and anxieties, needing assistance to cease her nervous monologuing. She’d begun biting her fingers absentmindedly in the end of her sentence, something she used to do when her anxiety felt bigger than herself, but slowly stopped after Garnet’s intervention.

She took a deep breath to ease her nerves, and closed her eyes. “It’s just… this all feels so pointlessly overwhelming, because even if I’m terrified of failure, I still want to try, to reach out to her and… I don’t know. When I’m around her I feel… warm. I… deeply cherish when she laughs with me, when it seems she’s smiling _for_ me even if the very thought is remarkably silly, when she simply tells me she likes to be around me. And she’s so strong and beautiful too… all of those things make me want to be closer to her somehow. And I don’t know if I mean fusing with her, but… The prospect doesn’t seem so bad, if it’s with her.

“…sometimes, I think of her and I become more energetic, like she’s giving me some sort of psychic strength? Oh golly, do you think that’s what it is? Have my thoughts been summoning her mentally and she lends me power if invoked by thought?”  
Garnet simply shook her head to let her know that was not possible, and decided against any further comments, she didn’t want to let on she knew who Peridot was talking about _yet_.

“But most times, when I actually consider telling her whatever this is, I become terribly anxious and afraid, because what if I just ruin everything we have now? Even if she didn’t hate me for even asking and by some miracle didn’t think I’m disgusting for thinking of her that way,” she drew in a sharp breath, keeping the tears that were pricking at the corners of her eyes from spilling.

“What if I’m inadequate and fail miserably at having something even remotely similar to what you have?” Peridot’s voice cracked slightly, and her eyes had diverged from Garnet halfway through her sentence.

“Peridot.”

When she looked back at her, Garnet was smiling. Before Peridot even had the chance to protest let alone question her, she spoke. “This ‘earthly emotion’ you’re talking about is _love_. I take it you’ve never felt it before, not to this degree, but surely you’re familiar with the word.”

Peridot nodded, taking in what Garnet was saying, her expression a mix of relief of now knowing what her feelings were and that special sort of fear new things bring along.

“There are different kinds of love, and humans have studied these emotions for thousands of years. Fascinating as all their analysis and classifications are, my favorite kind is romance. It’s the love that brought me together, the love that Ruby and Sapphire have for each other. The kind of love you want.”

Garnet seemed quite intent on keeping Peridot from interrupting with more questions that would only disrupt the flow of the conversation, so she took off her shades to give her sheer view of her three eyes. The smaller gem rapidly blinked in slight surprise, as she did suppose she must’ve had additional body parts given her nature as a fusion of two different gems, but it still shocked her to see Garnet’s often stoic appearance gain more detail. Satisfied after seeing her sidetracking trick work, she continued.

“It’s natural to be afraid of things that are new, to feel conflict between the excitement that new experience gives you and the loss of comfort everything you knew until then gave you. And more often than not, that’s what love is about. You take risks, work to make that risk worth it, and in the long run, you wind up abandoning everything you were, everything you had to be and everything you had to do for something greater.”

Peridot certainly appreciated that Garnet had uncovered her eyes, because being able to see her the way her expressions conveyed each word made it feel more real, more worth it.

“You may question it at the beginning, I know _I_ did. Even if you don’t stay fused like me, you are prone to having those. But as I said, if you know the answer, questions bring doubt and confusion. Even if you don’t know your answer now, you will soon, and once you do, you need to know that’s when your questioning ends. Fight your fears, and risk everything for your love!”

Peridot was awestruck by Garnet’s heartfelt speech, and genuinely felt deeply inside of her that her emotions, that this love was something worth fighting for.

“I… thank you for your counsel, Garnet. You have proved to be an exceptional friend, and I truly appreciate it,” she said, a grateful smile forming in her face.

Garnet smiled back. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve been in love too.”

Rather than being taken aback by her comment and reacting harshly in denial as she would’ve a few minutes ago, Peridot simply made a ‘pfft’ sound and kept grinning. “You _are_ in love.”

Garnet laughed softly, proud that Peridot understood her, and happy that she had stated an utterly undeniable truth. She stood up, ready to leave Peridot to her own thoughts once again, but stopped in her tracks and looked back at her, shades back on her face.

“Peridot.”

“Hm?”

“Don’t make Amethyst wait too long.”

With that, Garnet made her leave, leaving a flustered Peridot to herself cursing her all-knowing smug aura, and while externally she was screeching, internally she couldn’t really bring herself to wholly mind that Garnet knew. The knowledge that someone so full of love had lent her a hand and had her back gave her strength to be brave and tell Amethyst how she felt.

After all, she was someone worth taking a chance for.


End file.
